Companies Team Up To Develop eWLB Packaging
STMicroelectronics, STATS ChipPAC, and Infineon Technologies have agreed to jointly develop the next generation of embedded wafer-level ball-grid array (eWLB) technology. The R&D effort will focus on using both sides of a wafer to provide solutions for semiconductor devices with a higher integration level and a greater number of contact elements.
E-911 Technology Serves 5 Million Calls A Month
Car crashes. Outdoor accidents. Street crime. Dangerous emergencies happen every day. Cell phones, though, enable quick response. Phase-II Enhanced-911 (E-911) technology required by the Federal Communications Commission makes it easy for EMS personnel to arrive on the scene when the caller is unsure of the precise location. In fact, technology from TruePosition Inc. locates an average of 5 million 911 callers per month—that’s 165,000 calls a day.
Top Global Launches TD-HSPA Router During Beijing Olympics
The eyes of the world were on Beijing last Friday, as China opened the 2008 Summer Olympic Games with an unprecedented mix of pageantry and technology. But beyond the Bird’s Nest stadium, another communications marvel made a splash of its own as Top Global launched the world’s first time-division high-speed packet-access (TD-HSPA) router during the ceremonies.
Is It Worth Waiting For The Next Generation iPhone?
The media is simply overflowing with articles on Apple’s iPhone 2.0 which came out last month. (June 9). I have already had the feeling that I was the only writer/editor/blogger/pundit who had NOT written about this device. So, here is my two cents worth. But to liven this up, I will tell you what I think will be the new and better features of the third version of the iPhone, not the newest one, but the (hypothetical) one just beyond.
Openmoko Publishes Schematics For Its Neo Phones
Openmoko will publish the schematics for its Neo 1973 and Neo FreeRunner mobile phones, further opening its mobile platform to the development community. Unlike other mobile phone manufacturers, the company already includes a free and open-source (FOSS) operating system and open applications with these phones.
Qualcomm Achieves World's First HSPA+ Data Call
High-Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) is now in business. On July 31, Qualcomm completed the world’s first data call using the wireless networking technology. According to the company, the call achieved a data-transfer rate of more than 20 Mbits/s in a 5-MHz channel. With HSPA+, operators can double the data capacity and triple the voice capacity of their networks, compared to current HSPA deployments.
SDR Forum Adding Tactical Radio SIG, Moving On Other Initiatives
The Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum is establishing a special interest group (SIG) that will focus on the needs of the worldwide tactical radio community. The Forum, a nonprofit international industry association supporting the advancement of reconfigurable wireless technology, also announced that members will vote on approval of four significant documents at the organization’s general meeting on Nov. 9...
IR Receivers Feature Long Range, High Noise Immunity
Designed for long-range operation in infrared remote control, data transmission, and light-barrier applications, the TSOP85 series of surface-mount infrared receiver modules targets portable systems requiring very small component profiles.
LNA Boasts 20.5-dBm Gain, 0.8-dBm Noise Figure
Taking advantage of the company’s advanced, low-power SiGe BiCMOS process, the MAX2659 high-gain, low-noise amplifier (LNA) from Maxim Integrated Products achieves a 20.5-dB gain and a noise figure of 0.8 dB. The device hits these performance levels while maximizing the input-referred 1-dB compression point and third-order intercept point at -12 dBm and -2 dBm, respectively.
4-GHz Attenuators Suit WiMAX, WiFi, WiBro
A series of broadband 2-W BNC attenuators from Coaxial Dynamics is rated from dc to 4 GHz, which includes WiMax, WiFi, and WiBro testing applications. The 6902-BNCF series offers a VSWR of 1.25:1 maximum through 4 GHz and their accuracy is ±0.3 dB to 6 dB, ±0.5 dB to 20 dB, and ±0.75 dB to 30 dB.
The Path To 4G Will Take Many Turns
A race is going on right now and it's a heated one. It's a race to the next generation of untethered communications—4G mobile broadband wireless. The prize for reaching the finish line first or even finishing at all could be huge. Yet that finish line keeps moving, as the fourth generation (4G) isn't yet fully defined. In fact, spectrum won't be allocated until 2007. Standards probably won't be complete until the year after that. Right now, though, many teams across the globe are...
The End Of WSD And The Beginning Of MD&D
There’s an old proverb saying that when one door closes, another opens. Well, this August’s issue of Wireless System Design (WSD) is the last. And while that is the bad news for those of you who have stayed with this publication, I have some good news as well. A new publication will emerge in September. Called Mobile Dev & Design (MD&D), this monthly online publication will provide similar and even expanded coverage of wireless. So don’t fret.
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